Smash Bros. for Wii U preview – Amiibo gameplay detailed

Amiibos have been a big part of Nintendo’s marketing in the lead-up to Smash Bros.’ Wii U launch, but how they work hasn’t exactly been clear. Having got the chance to test the toys out for the first time, it’s apparent they have the potential to be Skylanders-level addictive, but so far seem rather restricted in their in-game application.

I didn’t know what to expect when I first picked them up, and was pleasantly surprised at their build quality. They’re well made and intricate, especially the more detailed figures like Marth and Fox. Kirby and Pikachu, though lacking the same level of detail, still look cute enough for children and fully-grown infants to become overly attached.

To add your Amiibo to the roster you have to touch the bottom of the figurine onto the GamePad’s NFC reader. You can then give your character a nickname and choose its attire. Once Ahchu (geddit?) was loaded up (along with the three other Amiibos) we jumped straight into an eight-player Smash battle.

Amiibos can only be used in Smash mode, which is a little disappointing. Rather than team up with your Amiibo companion and take on other areas of the game, like the excellent Events mode, you’re limited to the hectic one-off fights. Online multiplayer wasn’t available in the build I got to play, but it’d be great to see an ‘Amiibo arena’ where players can pit their companions against one another, or compete in team battles.

Your Amiibo levels up with each fight. Whether you’re fighting with or against the figure, it will begin to adopt your play style. If you’re somebody who uses lots of items, or tends to rush around the terrain at lightning speed, then it’ll try to ‘learn’ these characteristics. I didn’t get enough time with the figures to level them up to a sufficient stage to see this in action though. Especially not with my Pikachu spending more time committing suicide than doing any killing, though ironically that’s a pretty spot-on representation of my technique.

The figures can also gain experience when fighting the AI, too, meaning cheeky players can simply sling Amiibos into an all-AI battle and let them grow stronger while they make a cup of tea. Although these toys are primarily targeted at children to take round to their friend’s houses, thoughts immediately turned to the potential of personalised Amiibos for drinking games and bets.

Following every match, the toys have to be placed back onto the GamePad to transfer their data. They also have to be re-scanned if any badges are applied to change their stats, too, which can be a pain, especially with multiple figures in the fray.

Leaving the toys to one side, Smash Bros is amazing fun, and easily one of the best-looking Wii U games around. Adopting the same bright and vivid colours as Mario Kart 8, the stages are engrossing, especially those that transition across multiple locations like Mario Kart and F-Zero. However, with the additional jump to 60 fps, these stages can feel Usain Bolt-fast, where surviving the bout is just as tricky as battling your opponents. Orbital Gate Assault in particular is an endless death trap of spaceship-hopping that requires players keep an eye on at least four things at once.

Losing track can also be an issue in eight-player Smash, if only fleetingly. Momentary losses of your fighter’s position is common, especially in bigger battles when the game doesn’t highlight your location, meaning you have to quickly find them in the milliseconds before all hell breaks loose. Keeping track of what you’re doing is tricky enough, but when watching others fight it’s impossible. Trying to keep abreast of what’s going on and even who’s winning is like watching three tennis doubles matches simultaneously, each with eight balls on the go.

Combat is excellent, and being able to play on the big screen makes a huge difference compared to its 3DS counterpart. Being able to focus on your section of the fight is obviously much easier, and it’s also less of a pain to find and grab items as they drop.

There’s also the new stage editor for players to create battlegrounds. Using the stylus and touchpad, you can add terrain, lava, barrels and more, either on a small, medium or large scale map. It requires an eye for design in order to build something playable: my effort to design a level filled with barrels and lava proved unsuccessful when Luigi was wedged between two platforms, and Bowser was stuck flying back and forth between two barrels.

Sadly, the editor feels pretty basic and lacks enough customisation options to create anything close to those already in the game. Once a piece of land has been built, you cannot alter its size or orientation, only decide if its edges can be grabbed onto. In the build I played there were also fewer items and backgrounds than I’d like. Hopefully significantly more items and tools will be introduced to allow LittleBig Planet-esque detail.

One of the biggest surprises is the new Events mode, the Wii U alternative to Smash Run. Players have to complete certain levels within set criteria, like beat a Wrecking Crew-inspired level as Mario and Luigi, destroying the entire map while two AI fighters try their best to knock you out. Completing these challenges within a certain time or on a particular difficulty will unlock alternate paths and more events, too. The mode is built for co-op, as it often pits you and an AI fighter together. Considering this, it’s disappointing that Amiibos can’t be used, as they feel primed to be brought in to provide a helping hand.

Smash Bros. for Wii U is warming up to be the best console Smash game yet. The vibrant visuals coupled with the improved frame rate and faster gameplay could result in the most hectic action we’ve seen from the series to date. With the introduction of more players on screen than ever, along with Amiibos, playing with friends (both real and plastic) looks set to be be back to its frantic best.